Edward J. Swearingen
Founder, Director, Senior Advisor

Ed Swearingen has been active for over 62 years in the aircraft industry beginning in December 1941. At the age of 16, he began as a civil service employee in the U. S. A. F. overhauling military airplanes and piston engines. After several years of study, Swearingen entered the field of electronics and was employed by Continental Airlines. He then was employed by Lear Incorporated where he was involved in the design of Lear autopilots and airborne navigation and communication equipment. He became Assistant Director of Research and Development reporting directly to Mr. William P. Lear. He then became engaged in the development of Mr. Lear's first airplane which became known as the Lear Star.

Subsequently, he returned to San Antonio with the intention of creating an aircraft company and its products. After forming Swearingen Aircraft in 1959, Swearingen subsequently controlled the design of 18 new products ranging from small twin engine piston powered airplanes to large four engine jets. Some well-known examples are the Piper Twin Comanche and Cheyenne , Jet Star II and 731 Jet Star, Merlin and Metro and Re-engining of the Boeing 707.

Initially, he assisted Mr. Dee Howard in the development of the Howard 500 and also designed and built new products for Piper and a series of research helicopters for Bell Helicopter. Research for Bell was exploration of the combination of both fixed and rotary wings on the helicopter. One result was a modified Huey which set 17 performance records.

He then went on to design, certify and manufacture the Excalibur and Queen Air 800 which used the Beech Twin Bonanza and Queen Air airframes. He then produced the Merlin II, III and IV and the Metro aircraft. The Merlins were long-range high performance turbo prop corporate airplanes. Nearly 1100 Metros were built for the airline industry and for a significant period of time, more than one-half of the 19 passenger airline airplanes were Metros.

In February 1972, Swearingen Aircraft was sold to Fairchild Industries. Swearingen then remained with that corporation for a number of years and served in the capacity as Chairman of the Board. During this period Fairchild Industries employed Werner Von Braun after he left the space program. Von Braun and Swearingen were teamed by Fairchild to pursue several research projects. One interesting effort was assisting Fairchild Republic during the development of the A10 WARTHOG.

In the late 1980s, Swearingen was the first to recognize the need for a smaller corporate jet with full jet capabilities in terms of speed and range. It was also necessary for the aircraft to be much more efficient and be flown with smaller engines than had been used before to achieve these objectives. This effort resulted in the SJ30, which was prototyped and flown in order to demonstrate the potential. In April 1995, the assets of this program were transferred into the company now known as Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation.

Currently, Swearingen is also active with Seven Q Seven, Inc. in a program to re-engine the Boeing 707 fleet used by USAF, NATO and other nations for AWACS and JOINT STARS missions.

Swearingen received many awards of which two are especially meaningful. The first was an award from the FAA for being the first to develop exhaust gas temperature as a means of controlling fuel air ratio on small piston powered private airplanes.

The second was the NBAA Award for Meritorious Service to Aviation for the "PERCEPTION AND INNOVATIVE LEADERSHIP IN EXPANDING THE UTILITY, PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMICS OF THE NATION'S BUSINESS AIRCRAFT FLEET THROUGH DEVELOPMENT AND MODIFICATION PROGRAMS INVOLVING LEAR STAR, SUPER VENTURA, QUEEN AIR 800, EXCALIBUR, MERLIN, COMANCHE, JETSTAR AND SUPERSONIC BUSINESS AIRCRAFT." This prestigious award was presented to Mr. Swearingen on September 25, 1974 in Los Angeles , California.

Ed is a licensed pilot since 1946 and he loves flying, designing aircraft, reading, and restoring antique automobiles.